abstract: Yokonuma-Hecke algebras were introduced by Yokonuma in the 60's as generalisations of Iwahori-Hecke algebras. They have recently attracted the interest of topologists, because they naturally give rise to invariants for framed and classical knots. In this talk we will introduce and study the Yokonuma-Hecke algebra of type A from both algebraic and topological points of view.